I will admit that as a kid growing up during the eighties in Apartheid South Africa, America was this place that embodied something almost otherworldly, something most Westerners take for granted, freedom. America was the exact opposite of everything I hated about my own country. Or at least that’s how it appeared to me at the time. 

As we grow older and educate ourselves, our opinions change and we tend to become more critical of certain historical periods. Slavery, the genocide of the Native Americans, the Vietnam War, and many other examples. But every dark period was counterbalanced by progress and the endless striving for human rights. The abolition of slavery, the Civil Rights movement, anti-war protests, freedom of the sixties, abortion rights, and so much more. 

America’s brand was most probably at its strongest just after 9/11. The whole world rallied in support of democracy and freedom, and then slowly, year after year, the war just continued, with bodies piling up across the Middle East and Africa. Their relentless pursuit of vengeance and retribution ultimately led to America’s brand losing its luster. 

The emergence of Donald Trump and MAGA in 2015 has seen America’s reputation implode across the globe. Ten years of continuous nastiness, pettiness, and a single pointed focus to tarnish the brand, has finally succeeded. The America of today reminds me of the South Africa of my youth. A strange mixture of The Handmaid’s Tale and George Orwell’s 1984. 

BRAND EROSION: – Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, a billionaire supporter of President Donald Trump and a megadonor to Republican candidates, had some unusually harsh words for the president about his trade war: It’s hurting America’s standing in the world and eroding the nation’s brand.

“The United States was more than just a nation. It’s a brand. It’s a universal brand, whether it’s our culture, our financial strength, our military strength …. America rose beyond just being a country,” Griffin said Wednesday at the Semafor World Economy Summit in Washington. “It was like an aspiration for most the world. And we’re eroding that brand right now.”

“If you think of your behavior as a consumer, how many times do you buy a product with a brand on it because you trust that brand?” Griffin said. “In the financial markets, no brand compares to the brand of the US Treasuries — the strength of the US dollar and the strength and creditworthiness of US Treasuries. No brand came close. We put that brand at risk.”

As Trump’s trade war has escalated, investors have feared that the United States could inflict significant damage to the global economy — but even more harm to its own economy and perhaps irreparable damage to its own reputation.

AMERICA ALONE: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon had similar remarks in his annual shareholder letter earlier this month. Dimon said America’s “extraordinary standing” in the world was built on the strength of its economy, military and morals. But tariffs and Trump’s “America First” foreign policy could undermine the United States’ special position in the world.

America First is fine, as long as it doesn’t end up being America alone,” Dimon said. “If the Western world’s military and economic alliances were to fragment, America itself would inevitably weaken over time.”

“It can take a very long time — a very long time — to remove the tarnish on a brand.”

And US stocks, despite a recent two-day rally, have still erased nearly $7 trillion of market value since the stock market’s peak reached in mid-February, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

“The president and the secretary of the treasury and the secretary of commerce need to be very thoughtful that when you have a brand, you need to behave in a way that respects that brand that strengthens that brand,” Griffin said. “Because when you tarnish that brand? It can be a lifetime to repair the damage that has been done.” – CNN –

Apr 24, 2025 7:58:12 pm